An Everlasting Dance
by Crystal heart of ruby love
Summary: He may be gone but she knows that he will always be there, ready to dance an everlasting dance with her...


_Author's note: This is my first fanfiction and I hope everyone will enjoy it. Please read on..._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny and the characters..._

**An everlasting dance**

The night was silent and serene. The stars twinkled in the caress of the dark sky. She stepped through the garden softly.

The orchestra played and music filtered through the doors and drifted through the garden. Soft, gentle, flowing... She knew the couples in the ballroom were swaying to the lovely music, reminiscing in their loved ones' arms. She knew her brother and sister-in-law were in there with her friends, bathing in the melody.

But she was alone...

She didn't know why she was out there, or what had made her leave the ballroom. She was supposed to be inside since it was her brother and his wife's 20th wedding anniversary, but she couldn't...

The ball wasn't for her, it was for couples...

She was once a part of a couple, but not now...

She continued to make her way through the garden until she came to the fountain.

There, she stood still, watching the water splay, watching the circle of light reflected on the surface of the water. She remembered sitting by it, her husband caressing her face, whispering sweet endearments to her. She wanted to go through it again, to feel his warm hand and hear his deep voice again. But it would never happen...

Closing her eyes, she felt a single cold, lonely tear slip down her powdered cheek. Small as it may seem, it seeped all her joy with it, leaving cold hard memories...

Her brother and sister-in-law were happily married, for 20 years. But she... she was left behind, a widow for over 6 years... She didn't blame him, for he would not have died if not for her. Those memories of her watching as he flung himself before her to protect her from the racing bullet, collapsing before her very eyes, his beautiful emerald orbs closing for the last time and his final words 'I love you... Stay happy, Cagalli... ' Those memories haunted her... She wanted to scream, to cry, to shriek, to wail, to slay those who took her husband and killed her heart. But it wasn't right... Those weren't things that could be done by the Princess of Orb and they had stopped her before she could even plunge the knife she had smuggled into the prison cell with her, into the murderer's heart.

She fell onto the cool marble of the fountain, pounding it as she sobbed.

She was oblivious when the melody stopped and the orchestra changed the tune. But then, she raised her head slowly in surprise when she heard the new melody...

_Shaded by the trees,_

_Calling out to the wind, _

_I'm lying face-down crying_

"Akatsuki no Kuruma... The Dawn's carriage..." She gasped. She pulled herself to her feet slowly. She knew that song...

_I saw a version of myself_

_I didn't even recognize_

_On this guitar I'm playing_

_The melody of someone _

_Who's passed on_

He used to sing it to her... She smiled again, as pearls of joy cascaded down her cheeks, tracing the trails of her previous tears.

_A star falls in the grief of _

_Someone who'll never be seen again_

She stepped forward...

_Please don't go, no matter how much you scream,_

_All it will do is quietly stir these orange petals_

Then, back...

_Saved on my soft brow,_

_I send the memories in my palm far away_

_An eternal farewell as I keep strumming_

Before she knew it, she was swaying and spinning to the music. It seemed so right... It seemed like he was back there with her...

_The heart of a child clinging to a gentle hand_

_The blazing wheels cast it off and continue on_

_On this guitar I'm playing the grief of someone who's passed on_

_The strings in my heart being plucked at violently_

She laughed... The first genuine laugh she had over the past lonely years. She spun around and sailed through the air, her gown flowing with her graceful movements.

_In the pure white unstained by sorrow,_

_The orange petals stirred in a summer shadow_

_Even if my soft brow is lost,_

_I'll cross over the far off, red-stained sand_

_The rhythm of farewell_

Then, he was there... His midnight blue hair fluttering in the gentle night breeze, his emerald eyes fixed on her, his full lips poised in a charming smile... "Athrun!" She smiled, stopping in her dance. "You came back!"

_Branded into my memories, on the ever-turning earth,_

_There is something sprouting in remembrance_

"Care to dance?" He smiled, reaching out. She took his hand.

_Sending off the dawn's carriage_

_Those orange petals are stirring somewhere even now_

They soared through the garden, spinning and turning in the familiar warmth of each other's arms.

_The peaceful daybreak I once saw_

_Until it is placed in my hands once more,_

_Please don't let the light go out_

_The wheels are turning_

She didn't notice the music starting to end.

She cried out when he started to fade.

"Cagalli, stay happy... I love you..." He whispered. She let a tear fall... but only a tear... for she knew that he would always be with her, ready to dance an everlasting dance with her...

_Author's note: How is it? I hope it meets your expectations! All reviews are welcomed and appreciated, including criticism so please review..._


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